Visigoths vs. Mall Goths

Last updated
Visigoths vs. Mall Goths
A Tabletop Roleplaying Game & Dating Sim
Visigoths vs. Mall Goths paperback mockup.png
Visigoths vs. Mall Goths paperback book, exterior and interior
Designers Lucian Kahn
Illustrators Robin Eisenberg, Vee Hendro, Lluis Abadias Garcia, Olivia Fields, Jackson Tegu
PublishersHit Point Press
Publication2020, 2023
Genres tabletop role-playing game, urban fantasy, comedy, romance
Players4-6 plus GM
ChanceHigh
Age rangeteens and up
Skills Role-playing, improvisation
ISBN 978-1-7782211-9-4

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths is an urban fantasy tabletop role-playing game with LGBTQ dating sim elements by Lucian Kahn, with art by Robin Eisenberg. [1] The ancient Visigoths have time traveled to 1990s Los Angeles and are battling mall goths for control of the mall. [2] The game's tone is silly and the setting has many puns. The game was inspired by 1990s movies The Craft, Empire Records, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Clueless. [2] [3]

Contents

Gameplay

Players make characters in competing teams of 2-3 Visigoths and 2-3 Mall Goths. Conflicts are resolved by opposed rolls with two six-sided dice plus character class bonuses. Players can use embarrassing traits to offer a teammate a bonus. Characters are not physically hurt in combat but receive hurt feelings they can heal through dialogue. [4]

Reception

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths was featured as a four-part series on One Shot Podcast Network's flagship actual play podcast hosted by James D'Amato, author of Simon & Schuster's "Ultimate RPG" books. [5] [6] One Shot Podcast Network's show Character Creation Cast also aired a two-part episode about Visigoths vs. Mall Goths. [7] The game was nominated for the ENNIE Awards for "Best Writing" in 2020 [8] and the Indie Game Developer Network award for "Best Setting" in 2021. [9] It was in the exhibition "Game Play: Between Fantasy and Realism" at Museum of the Moving Image. [10] Kieron Gillen endorsed it. [11] [12] Justin Joyce for Polygon recommended it as a game to try from Indie Press Revolution. [13] Banana Chan for Dicebreaker called it one of the best games of 2020. [14] Linda Codega for Gizmodo recommended it as a queer game to play for Pride Month. [15] Trin Garritano, Games Digital Outreach Lead at Kickstarter, named it their favorite project of 2019. [16]

Publication History

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths was originally self-published in hardcover, softcover, and PDF form through a Kickstarter campaign in October 2019 that met its initial goal in 24 hours and raised a total of $21,393 from 751 backers. [17] It continued to be distributed in softcover and PDF form through Indie Press Revolution, Itch.io, and DriveThruRPG. [13] In 2022, it was part of Itch.io's Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds. [18] In March 2023, Visigoths vs. Mall Goths was republished in softcover and PDF form by indie publisher Hit Point Press as an add-on after their Kickstarter for Kahn's game If I Were a Lich, Man raised $84,590 from 2,049 backers. [19]

Related Research Articles

Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schmekel</span> Jewish folk punk band

Schmekel was an all-transgender, Jewish folk punk band from Brooklyn, New York, known for their satirical lyrical material. Eddy Portnoy of The Forward cited Schmekel as an example of the cultural movement "Queer Yiddishkeit." Schmekel made their audiences more comfortable with transgender topics through jokes, but also often included lyrical references to obscure queer, Jewish, and punk content that only cultural insiders would recognize. Hugh Ryan for The New York Times compared Schmekel's sound to Pansy Division and compared Lucian Kahn's songwriting to Jewish singer/songwriter and satirist Tom Lehrer. The Advocate compared Schmekel to Pansy Division and Tribe 8, and the book Listen to Punk Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre compared Schmekel’s song “I’ll Be Your Maccabee” to Pansy Division’s song “Homo Christmas.” Schmekel's lyrics frequently referred to Jewish holidays, and their first album started with Kahn sounding the Yom Kippur "tekiah" and bassist Nogga Schwartz blowing a shofar before launching into a punk song. The Jewish Music Resource Centre at Hebrew University of Jerusalem noted that Schmekel's music used "direct musical quotes from traditional Jewish melodies such as Chad Gadya, Ma'oz Tzur, and Al Chet”. Professor of Musicology Edwin Seroussi compared Schmekel’s tongue-in-cheek allusions to prayers to similar inside jokes in Yiddish theatre and vaudeville at the turn of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dread (role-playing game)</span> Tabletop horror role-playing game

Dread is a horror RPG designed by Epidiah Ravachol and Nathaniel Barmore, and published by The Impossible Dream. The game uses a Jenga tower for action resolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onyx Path Publishing</span> Role-playing game company

Onyx Path Publishing is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games that produces company-owned and creator-owned games as well as licensed products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powered by the Apocalypse</span> Game system for tabletop role-playing game

Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game Apocalypse World and later adapted for hundreds of other RPGs.

<i>Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game</i> 2022 tabletop role-playing game

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game produced by Magpie Games. It is set in the world of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and takes place in five different time periods. It sees players take the roles of martial artists, technological experts, or benders – people who can manipulate one of the four classical elements – who fight for balance in the world while also working towards their own goals and struggling with inner balance, represented by opposing ideals held by a character.

<i>Thirsty Sword Lesbians</i> 2021 tabletop role-playing game

Thirsty Sword Lesbians is a narrative-focused tabletop role-playing game that emphasizes telling "melodramatic and queer stories". The game was funded via a 2020 Kickstarter campaign and published by Evil Hat Productions in 2021. It uses a modification of the Powered by the Apocalypse game system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironsworn</span> American generic role-playing game

Ironsworn is an indie role-playing game written and self-published by Shawn Tomkin. Its Ironlands setting is low fantasy, set in a rugged frontier. The game received the 2019 ENNIE Gold Winner Award for Best Free Game/Product. Rob Wieland for Forbes named Ironsworn one of his favorite RPG products of 2022 and one of the best fantasy tabletop role-playing games for solo play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucian Kahn</span> American musician and game designer

Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Roberts (game designer)</span> Canadian role-playing game designer

Alex Roberts is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer. Her games typically lack a gamemaster (GM) and include romantic themes.

Wanderhome is an indie role-playing game by Jay Dragon about animal people in a pastoral setting, based upon the Belonging Outside Belonging game engine by Avery Alder. It is published by Possum Creek Games. Unlike typical tabletop role-playing games, Wanderhome does not use dice, turns, or a gamemaster, focusing instead on the characters' emotional journey. Dialogue takes the place of battles, and gameplay revolves around question prompts.

Apocalypse Keys is a mystery tabletop role-playing game about monsters who decide to save the world, designed by Rae Nedjadi and published by Evil Hat Productions. It uses the Powered by the Apocalypse game engine by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker. The game is inspired by Hellboy, Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Men in Black, Penny Dreadful, and Doom Patrol.

Field Guide to Memory is a one-player narrative journaling indie role-playing game by Shing Yin Khor and Jeeyon Shim about a missing cryptozoologist's mentee traveling across the United States in search of information about her mentor.

<i>X-Card</i> Safety tool in role-playing games

The X-Card is a technique for moderating content while playing tabletop role-playing games, also known as a safety tool. Gameplay pauses when a player touches a card marked with an X, enabling the group to remove any uncomfortable material from the narrative and/or address players' mental and emotional wellbeing.

Bluebeard's Bride is a gothic horror tabletop role-playing game based on the Bluebeard folktale. It was designed and written by Whitney "Strix" Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson, and published by Magpie Games in 2017. Players represent five aspects of a woman's mind as she explores the mansion of her frightening new husband.

Honey & Hot Wax is an anthology of live action role-playing games on the theme of sex and sexuality, published by Pelgrane Press in 2020. It includes games by Sharang Biswas (co-editor), Yeonsoo Julian Kim, Julia Bond Ellingboe, Kat Jones, Lucian Kahn (co-editor), Jonaya Kemper, Will Morningstar, Alex Roberts, and Susanne. It also has a foreword by Naomi Clark, academic chair of NYU Game Center, and a chapter on consent by Maury Brown.

Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall is a tabletop role-playing game about Chinese immigrants to North America managing a family restaurant while battling Jiangshi, legendary hopping vampires. The game was designed by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim, who are both Chinese immigrants. It was published independently in 2021 after a Kickstarter campaign raised over US$100,000. The instructions focus heavily on authentic portrayals of Chinese history and immigrant experiences. The default scenario takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1920s, but the game box comes with a book of scenarios by a variety of writers offering more adventures in different cities and historical periods. The game's tone can range from serious to comedy horror. Themes include fighting racism, exploring intergenerational knowledge and relationships, coping with economic hardship, and working together as a family.

Heart: The City Beneath is a tabletop role-playing game about surreal underground labyrinths, designed by Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor.

Kids on Bikes is a series of adventure tabletop role-playing games.

The Gauntlet is a publisher/producer of tabletop role-playing games and podcasts. In addition to game books, they publish a monthly game zine called Codex to encourage experimentation in indie role-playing games and OSR. They also host over 100 online games each month and maintain public forums on gaming topics. They have won and been nominated for ENNIE Awards and funded multiple projects through successful Kickstarter campaigns.

References

  1. ↑ "Queer Games Bundle strives to earn a living wage for marginalized artists in the tabletop RPG space". Dicebreaker. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  2. 1 2 Gailloreto, Coleman (2021-06-19). "LGBTQ+ Themed Tabletop Roleplaying Games". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  3. ↑ "Pre-order If I Were a Lich, Man: 3 Jewish Games by Lucian Kahn on BackerKit". BackerKit. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  4. ↑ "Scratching That Itch: Visigoths Vs. Mall Goths – Waltorious Writes About Games" . Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  5. ↑ "Visigoths vs Mall Goths Archives". The One Shot Podcast. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  6. ↑ The Ultimate RPG Guide Boxed Set. 2021-12-28. ISBN   978-1-5072-1834-1.
  7. ↑ Cast, Character Creation (2020-02-03). "Series 24.1 – Visigoths vs Mall Goths with Lucian Kahn [Designer] (Creation)". The One Shot Podcast. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  8. ↑ "2020 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards" . Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  9. ↑ "Indie Game Developer Network announces 2021 award nominees". Dicebreaker. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  10. ↑ "Game Play: Visigoths vs. Mall Goths". Museum of the Moving Image. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Visigoths vs Mall Goths :: Game Books :: IPR". www.indiepressrevolution.com. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  12. ↑ kierongillen. "Another Way To Breathe". Tumblr. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  13. 1 2 Joyce, Justin (2021-06-02). "The best tabletop role-playing games are sold online, but not through Amazon". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  14. ↑ "Games of the Year 2020: Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall co-creator Banana Chan". Dicebreaker. 2020-12-21. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  15. ↑ "26 Tabletop Roleplaying Games by Queer Game Designers". Gizmodo. 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  16. ↑ "Visigoths vs Mall Goths :: Game Books :: IPR". www.indiepressrevolution.com. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  17. ↑ "Track Visigoths vs Mall Goths (game & weird 90s mall setting)'s Kickstarter campaign on BackerTracker". BackerKit. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  18. ↑ Writer, Alex Meehan Senior Staff (2022-07-04). "Wanderhome and Visigoths & Mall Goths featured in bundle for abortion funds". Dicebreaker. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  19. ↑ "Pre-order If I Were a Lich, Man: 3 Jewish Games by Lucian Kahn on BackerKit". BackerKit. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.